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Abstract Detail


Education Sharing our Ethnobotany Curriculum: the Open Science Approach

Vougioukalou , Sofia Anthi [1].

Online resources for open innovation in ethnobotany: towards a more engaged science.

Open innovation is a concept that assumes that organisations can and should collaborate with external ideas and expertise as well as internal ideas to advance research and development and create new opportunities. Importing this idea into higher education, it becomes clear that the use of online resources as collaborative platforms can lead to enriched teaching and learning environments, innovative intra- and inter- university joint working and increase potential access to more diverse sources of funding. Not all knowledge resides within universities, and online resources enable two-way engagement which can improve both the relevance and the impact of university knowledge and expertise. Exploding the notion of the "ivory tower", more permeable boundaries between a higher education institution and its environment enable new innovations to be co-developed and knowledge to be constructively re-contextualised, thus creating mutually beneficial relationships between the university and external parties. In an era where academic research has to demonstrate its public value and socioeconomic impact, universities do not need to rely entirely on their own resources and produce outputs for an internal audience. Instead, making use of the wide distribution of knowledge online and offline, students and staff can use information from - and produce outputs for - other educational institutions and businesses as well as public, voluntary and community sector organisations. In this way, ethnobotany can transcend the margins of social and natural sciences and demonstrate its relevance and value in providing solutions to contemporary issues of social and environmental importance. The challenges and complexities involved in working across institutional and disciplinary boundaries will be addressed using examples of open innovation in teaching, research and knowledge exchange partnerships with external organisations in two higher education institutions in the UK.

Broader Impacts:


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Keywords:
open innovation
knowledge exchange
medical ethnobotany
community gardens
online collaborative platforms.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY15
Location: Lindell C/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Time: 3:45 PM
Number: SY15001
Abstract ID:270


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